SW News: Thousands of people will join the Catholic Church at this year’s Easter vigil liturgy across the world. The new converts would be from various nationalities and diverse backgrounds. The Church stipulates that people who have the desire to become Catholics need to go through RCIA, which stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, before officially becoming part of the Church.

Individuals, who have not yet received baptism are called Catechumens, while candidates are the ones who have already been baptized but yet to come into full communion with the Church through the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion.

In the Diocese of Fort Worth, in the United States, 297 candidates and 452 catechumens will come into full communion with the Church. In the Diocese of St. Petersburg, more than 350 people will embrace the Catholic faith. In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, around 200 catechumens and more than 235 candidates have been preparing to become Catholics.

As many as 126 catechumens and 180 candidates have been going through RCIA in the diocese of Grand Rapids in the USA.

In the archdiocese of Brisbane in Australia, 140 catechumens and candidates will embrace the Catholic faith at the Easter vigil. In Sydney archdiocese, nearly 200 people will become Catholics. As many as 350 catechumens and candidates will embrace the Catholic faith at the Easter vigil in the diocese of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

In 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic, the number of converts in the United States alone was more than 35000.